Citing his health and old age, Benedict announced his intention to resign Feb. 11, shocking the Catholic world. He will be just the fifth pope to have resigned from the office, and the first in nearly 600 years.

O’Malley and the other cardinals in Rome will meet with Benedict Thursday morning for “a time of prayer and reflection” prior to the pontiff’s official resignation, a statement from the archdiocese said.

O’Malley flew out of Boston Tuesday, the archdiocese said, showing the cardinal relaxing with a newspaper in an airplane seat.